Chute guard



R. BALM ER CHUTE GUARD Seix.' 16 1924.'

Filed March 5, 1924 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

Lacan? y FMC aos-ear satana, 'or fro-Romo, @amare CANADA.

cHir'rE GUARD.

Application filed March 5, 1924. Serial No. 697,106.

To 'all whom t may concern:

Be it knownn that 1Ro13nfn'r BALMEB, a subject ofthe King of the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and a citizen of the Dominion ofCanada, and` a resident of the city of Toronto, in the Province ofOntario, in said Dominion, am the inventor or discoverer ofl certainn'ew and useful Im'- provements in Chute Guards, of which the followingis a description.

My invention relates to guards for vchutes adapted lto protect a workerfrom accidents in places where the mouth of a cl'iute, a trapd'oor, orlike openingv in a lfloor is employed for chargingmaterial therethrough;it -particularly yconcerns -a guard for floor openings employed as themouths of chutes in incinerators or garbage furnaces where material ismanually drawn to a chute and adjacent which mouth the worker must standand across which he must reach with a longhandler rake to draw thewaste, rubbish and garbage toward the chute-mouth for deliverytherethrough to a {ire-grate on a lower level. y

It has for its object the prevention of the workman from getting intothe chute, by guarding the mouth thereof from all vsides by akparticularform of grating which at the same time will lnot interfere with thework, and, on the contrary, will facilitate the handling of the heavyrakes customarily employed. A further object is the provision in such aguard of means adapted to prevent the introduction of any over-sizedobject or any excess mass of garbage into the chute.y

With the foregoing and other hereinafter recited objects in'vi'ew', myinvention consists inthe structural means set forth and described in thefollowing specification, as illustrated in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification. wherein is shown a preferredstructural embodiment of my invention as applied to a garbageincinerator of the type illustrated in United States Letters-PatentNumber 1.442.116, granted me January 16, 1923, and Number 1,460,566,granted me July 3, 1923.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of aconventionalized destructor, showing my invention as adapted thereto;Figure 2 is a vertical perspective view of my chute guard, and part ofthe chute associated therewith, viewed from the position indicated bythe line 2 2 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the base12 resting on'the arrow; and Figure 3 is a plan view thereof. LikeVreference .characters indicate corre# spon ding parts throughout.

l is a furnace chamber and 2 a grate therein. 3 is a waste storage bi'nhaving a floor inclined toward the doorway4 thereof.'

5 is'the working floor. iioor opening at its bottominto the-chain` ber 1and having its mouth in fthe floor 5. A hinged .cover 7 may be providedat the ,f6 is a chute' in said mouthof theJ chute, as shown.-` Itis showi'i closing the chutemouth, anda drop or hop*- p'er bottom 8 is shownin open position, with a sliding coverl 9 for closing, the furnacechamber and supportingthe bottom 8. Beneath the fioor is an `ang-le `bar1 0 rigidly supporting the guard elements or bars 11, 11, which arecross braced by the supporting bar 10 and to which the elements 11 aredetachably secured as by screw-bolts,to facilitate vdismounting. upperbracel3 is similarly attached to the bars 11.v The elements l11 arelpreferably7 iron barsextending vertically the height lof the` door 4,bent.` over at substantiallyright angles and extending acrosstheymouthkof f the chute, and Vat their ends bent downwardly, leaving anopeningl l1.4 opposite the door 4. The height and width of this openingare less than the length of the shorter side of the mouth of the chute,if both are rectangular; or, the vdiameter `of the mouth of the chute isgreater than the longest linear dimension kof the opening ofthe guard,if the chute-opening is lof circular or like form. The bars llwith thesupports 1-2 and 13 constitute a grating affording openings betweenelements 11. between which elements a rake handle may be extended by theworkman standing on the floor 5 in a station indicated approximately bythe section line 2 2 of Figure 1. The rake may be thrust into the bin,the handle being between the bars, with freedom of vertical movement ofthe handle. Similarly the rake-may be drawn back and of the bars throughthe opening afforded without hindrance by the guard. At the Sametime,the cross brace 13 affords a bridge upon which long-handled implementssuch under the endsy as the garbage-rake may be slid forward and back,theirweight being supported thereby. This cross-brace thus'serves as afulcrum and facilitates the handling of the heavy implements. Theopening 14 afforded by the guard on the side opposite and registeringwith the doorway 4 permits a lateral range of play for the rake suicientto handle and haul the rubbish, garbage or like waste as accumulated inthe bin. The dimensions of the opening 14 are such that any mass or object which can pass therethrough will likewise pass through the chute 6.Side members 15, 15 may be used if desired to complete the housing ofthe opening. The raised door 7 assists in directing the material intothe chute as a stop against which it may be raked, and the sidescooperate in this utility.

I have shown my invention as applied to a garbage incinerator because ithas especial value in protecting the workers who must stand close to anopening over a furnace in order to feed the material to its grate andwho are liable to lean too far over the opened chute in order to reachfurther back into the bin unless prevented. With an open chuteunguar-ded, there is the further danger that the workman may lose hisbalance, if he leans over the chute, by reason of the effect upon him of flame, heat or gases rising from the fire or by reason of slipping ifthe floor is wet.

While I have thus shown my chute guard as applied to an incineratorhaving a horizontal fire grate fed from above, I appreciate the broaderutility of my invention and do not intend to be understood as limitingits application thereto or combination therewith, but desire itunderstood to be useful with other structures presenting like or otherhazards; nor do I intend to be understood as limiting my invention tothe structural embodiment shown and described, since I believe itsusceptible of realization in variously modified forms within thedefinitions thereof given in the appended claims.

Having thus described and shown my preferred form, I claim:

1. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed membersspaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, ing atinside length of their horizontal extension.

2. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically ldisposed membersspaced apart and extending rst upwardly, then horizontally, and thendownwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to theinside length of their horizontal extension, the two outside elementshaving each a side closure element associated therewith.

3. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed membersspaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and thendownwardly, and terminating ata height above the floor equal to theinside length of their horizontal extension, an-d an upstanding basecommon to said members and detachable therefrom.

t. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed membersspaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and thendownwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to theinside length of their horizontal extension, the two outside elementshaving each a side closure element associated therewith, and anupstanding base common to said members and detachable therefrom.

5. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed membersspaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and thendownwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to theinside length of their horizontal extension, an-d a cross brace commonto said members and constituting a tool rest.

6. In combination, a chute and a guard therefor, the guard beingcomposed of a plurality of bars extending upwardly and over the chute tobe guarded and downwardly therebeyond, the downwardly projecting ends ofthe bars terminating above a side of the chute and affording an openingwhose longest dimension is less than the shortest dimension of thechute.

ROBERT BALMER.

